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The Week Ahead: Energy Policy Framework to Be Released by House Republicans, Congressional Hearings on Agenda

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT BLOG

Feb 6, 2015 / by

THE WEEK AHEAD: ENERGY POLICY FRAMEWORK TO BE RELEASED BY HOUSE REPUBLICANS, CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON AGENDA

House Republicans are expected to unveil an energy policy
framework the week of Feb. 9 that will focus on modernizing energy
infrastructure and the U.S. energy workforce and boosting energy efficiency, among
other things.

The effort is being coordinated with Senate Republicans, who
are in the beginning stages of writing a multi-title, comprehensive energy bill
led by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee.

Congressional
Hearings

On Feb. 11, Janet McCabe, the Environmental Protection
Agency acting assistant administrator for air and radiation, will testify
before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on the agency’s
proposed carbon dioxide emissions rules for new, modified and existing power plants.

On Feb. 12, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will testify
before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on the Department of
Energy's budget request for fiscal year 2016.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee will also hold a
hearing Feb. 11 on the DOE budget request.

As covered in a Feb. 2 Energy and Climate Report article,
DOE would receive $29.9 billion under the budget
request released by the White House, a $2.6 billion increase over
current funding levels and $2 billion more than President Barack Obama
requested for fiscal year 2015.

International Events

The United Nations will hold climate talks Feb. 8-13 in
Geneva with the goal of developing a draft text for an international climate
agreement.

The draft text must be available for negotiations by late
May under UN rules. Negotiators also are expected to work on new strategies to
facilitate increased climate action before 2020, when a Paris accord—to be
negotiated at the end of 2015—would enter into force.

On Feb. 9 envoys to the Convention on Nuclear Safety, which
was signed by 77 countries in 1994, will meet in Vienna during which they are expected
to make a declaration—instead of adopting legal obligations—to mitigate against
contamination from nuclear accidents.

As covered in a Feb. 5 article,
Europeans want to tighten nuclear-safety regulations by forcing regulators to
show how old reactors can be retrofitted to mitigate against accidents. The
U.S. and Russia oppose imposing the EU standards everywhere, claiming they
would be divisive.

California to Hold
Hearings on Draft Oil, Gas Report

The California Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil,
Gas and Geothermal Resources will hold public hearings Feb. 10 in Ventura and
Feb. 11 in Los Angeles on a draft report that found the most significant
environmental impacts of oil and gas well stimulation activities could be
minimized under the state’s new regulations and proposed mitigation
measures.

Additional hearings are scheduled for Feb. 18 in Oakland,
Feb. 19 in Sacramento, Feb. 23 in Bakersfield and Feb. 25 in Salinas.

Other Energy, Climate
Events

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), which
funds highly experimental research unlikely to get traditional financing, will
host its annual summit Feb. 9-11 in
Washington. On Feb. 11, DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz is scheduled give a
“fireside chat.”

The Western Governors' Association will host a webinar Feb. 13 on its Regulatory and Permitting Information
Desktop, an online platform that collects critical state and
federal information related to siting and permitting of renewable energy and
bulk electricity transmission projects in the western U.S.

On Feb. 9, Texas-based Waste Control Specialists is expected
to announce its plans to develop an interim consolidated storage facility for
commercial spent nuclear fuel. According to a Nuclear Energy Institute news
release, the facility would be the first U.S. interim storage facility, a
concept that was recommended in 2012 by President Barack Obama's Blue Ribbon
Commission on America's Nuclear Future.

The Electric Drive Transportation Association’s Electric
Drive Congress
2015 will be held Feb. 10-11 in Washington. Industry executives,
policymakers and other stakeholders will discuss what to expect in the electric
vehicle market and what role federal and regional leaders will play in
developing next generation transportation options.

On Feb. 10, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute and
the Electric Drive Transportation Association will hold a briefing in Washington on the “Road Ahead for Electric
Vehicles.” Featured speakers include
Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Tom
Carper (D-Del.) and Tracy Woodard, director of government affairs for Nissan.

Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service Center for
Contemporary Arab Studies will hold an event
Feb. 11-13 in Washington on “An Energy Revolution? The Political Ecologies of
Shale Oil in the Middle East, U.S. and China.”

On Feb. 12, the
Association of Climate Change Officer’s Women's Climate Collaborative will hold
a webinar
on “Lean In to Fight Climate Change.” Featured speakers include Connie Sasala,
chief sustainability officer for Cameron-Cole LLC, and Margery Moore, director
of environmental strategic alliances for Bloomberg BNA.

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